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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964235">Art for The Elmwood Haunting</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel'>whichstiel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Big Bang Art, Dean/Cas Big Bang, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:01:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Art created for Sarasaurusrex's story, The Elmwood Haunting.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>DCBB 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Art for The Elmwood Haunting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">For this round of DCBB, I was lucky enough to claim <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarasaurusrex/pseuds/sarasaurusrex">Sarasaurusrex’s</a> story, <strong><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971228/">The Elmwood Haunting</a>.</strong> This story is a lovely mix of creeping, classic horror and sweetly building relationship. I am also WEAK for Dadstiel, so this story was delicious catnip for me. I loved reading it, and working with Sarasaurusrex this year!</p><p class="p1">
  <strong>Here’s the summary:</strong>
</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="p1">Everyone knows there’s something strange about the old house on Elmwood Avenue. Its gruesome history of murder has scared off many families, but not Castiel Shurley. He believes he’s finally found the perfect home for himself and his five children. Twice widowed, Castiel is a physical therapist who doesn’t believe in the paranormal. Nor, Castiel believes, does the local plumber who comes by one sunny Autumn morning to lend a hand—Dean Winchester. But Dean, like the Elmwood house, is not all he seems. </p>
  <p class="p1">Luckily for the Shurley’s, Dean is secretly an amateur ghost hunter who’s been guarding the Elmwood house for years. He’s determined to keep Castiel’s family safe without revealing his true identity to them, so long as he can keep his hands off of Cas. Nothing goes to plan however, and their budding relationship is marred by secrets and the supernatural.</p>
  <p class="p1">Unbeknownst to anyone, the legend of the Elmwood house goes much deeper than ghosts and murder. As Castiel and Dean unravel the mystery of what really happened in that house they find themselves facing a generations’ old demon pact and a family legacy of previously unknown supernatural ‘hunters’.</p>
</blockquote><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">In this story, Cas moves into an old house, only to discover in a delightful crescendo of events that it’s haunted. The cover was inspired by the house as a secondary character. A simple little standup structure of paper, this little house was created by layering paper around a translucent sheet and shining a red light through the bottom, and a white light directly behind to illuminate the skull.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p3">The cover without lighting...</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">While the house belongs to Cas, Dean also must confront its shadows. Inspired by Dean’s reaction to the house, I wanted to make a small portrait of how I felt as he investigated the haunting.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">While I was hooked by the creepy imagery, I really enjoyed the building relationship between Dean and Cas. This pivotal scene of kissing in the kitchen needed to be created. Gardens and moon lilies appear throughout the story, and I had fun populating the next two pieces with abstract growth and greenery. (Sorry, Cas’s kitchen is NOT full of vines - but it IS full of kissing!)</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2">This kitchen kiss was originally just a simple little kiss against a refrigerator. But in typical fashion, I just kept adding more to the picture until I was happy with it.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p2">Why yes, I DID end up ripping off their heads and trying again.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p2">I eventually built it into the deep shadowbox frame I like to build scenes onto when I want to add a little more shadow to the final shots. Direct sunlight is always best to bring out colors and the morning sun created these sharp shadows.</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p6">Like the kitchen, the final fight near the end of the story involved lots of narrative threads finally coming together. I loved the image of Cas with a water gun and Dean with a rifle, so placing them in this pivotal scene where everything begins to crescendo was a lot of fun. I had more trouble with this scene, finding it difficult to decide how to stage it, shoot it, and add details. In the end, it's a bit of a salad of all the things I really enjoyed about this story - creepy ghost children, danger, and Dean+Cas in L.O.V.E. and working together.</p><p class="p5">
  
</p><p class="p5">I had a tough time with this scene. Should it be simple - just Dean+Cas? Should I have ghost children? How should I light it? ARGH! Art is hard. Here are a couple of drafts. Soooo many drafts.</p><p class="p5">
  
</p><p class="p5">
  
</p><p class="p5">
  
</p><p class="p5">
  
</p><p class="p6">Moon lilies grow near the house in the story, and seemed like the perfect divider. Figuring out how to make these flowers took way too long, but once I got them, they were fast and fun to create once I made a simple template to trace and added some watercolor. They're a simple 5 point flower design, with a hole punched in the middle and some shredded cardstock pushed through. The veins are lightly painted with green, and green marker colors the tips of the flower centers.</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p5"> </p><p class="p6">Thanks for reading! Check out Sarasaurusrex’s story, <strong><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971228/">The Elmwood Haunting</a></strong>, for a wonderful tale full of romance and horror!</p>
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